Massaging device



Patented F eb. 9,1943

UNITED STATES lrliriazil'r OFFICE 6 Claims.

'I'his invention relates to improvements in a 'massaging device, and more speciilcally to a massaging device highly effective for use in massaging terminal members of the human body, and especially the ngers and toes, although the invention may have other uses and purposes, as

will be apparent to one skilled in th'e art.

I am aware that in the past many and various types of massaging devices have been developed, for use on various parts of the human body, but in' so far as I am aware such formerly known devices were not well adapted or desirable for use in massaging terminal members of the body such as ngers and toes. Frequently it is just as desirable, from the standpoint of health and beauty, to massage the hands and ilngers as well as other parts of the body, and in the past it has been dimcult to adapt or obtain a device for that particular purpose.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a massaging device especially designed to massage a terminal member of the body, such as a nger.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a mechanical device designed to aid in the slenderizing and tapering of a nger or toe.

A further object of the invention is the provision-of a massaging appliance including a pair of confronting massaging elements carried by resilient means and capable of exerting a yielding pressure upon a finger or the like undergoing treatment, and which may be adjusted by the hands of the user to vary the pressure of the massaging means as may be deemed necessary or desirable.

Still another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a device of the character described wherein a pair of confronting resilient rolls are provided, shaped to accommodate a linger. and carried in frame means sumciently resilient to permit manual variation of the spacing between the rolls at will, and which permit a separation of the rolls when passing over a knuckle or other region of variation in thickness of a nger, regardless ofthe manual pressure on the device.

Still a further feature of the invention is the provision of a massaging device for a ilnger or toe, which device is arranged to automatically compensate for variations in thickness of the part undergoing treatment and thus maintain substantially constant pressure over the entire part.

While someof the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the present inven Application May 19, 194i, serial No, 394,049

(Cl. 12S-57) tion have been above pointed out. others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunctionA with the accompanying drawing, in which: y Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a device embodying principles of th'is invention, showing the same in use on a finger of one hand of the user while the device is held and manipulated by the other hand of the user; Figure 2 isan enlarged front elevational view of the device of Figure 1; A

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the device of Figures 1 and 2, taken from the opposite sigle from the showing in Figure 1, or from the righ't}\ l5 hand side of the showing in Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, with parts in elevation, taken substantially as indicated by the section .line 'IV-IV of Figure 3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

As shown on the drawing: In Figure 1, the illustrated embodiment of this invention is shown in operative position with the small finger t of a, left hand 6 undergoing massaging treatment. The device is held between the forennger l and thumb t of a right hand the second or longer nger iii of the right hand also steadying the device, if so desired. With the hands in the. position illustrated in Figure l, the device may be moved backwards and forwards over the small nger ii, longitudinally of the ilnger. Obviously, the device may also be placed sidewise, or at any other angle to the vertical, so that the entire nnlger may be effectively massaged. With reference more particularly to Figure 2, it will be seen that the illustrated form` of the invention includes a frame, generally indicated by numeral ii, preferably yformed of a piece of metallic ribbon. Inlthe illustrated instance, the end portions of the metallic ribbon have been reversely and inwardly bent to form yoke-like confronting inner frame portions i2i2, and the intermediate part of the ribbon has been shaped to provide an outer and surrounding yoke portion i3. Preferably the only connections between the inner portions i2-i2 and the outer part i3 are bend points id m, and it will be noted that the bends are somewhat open bends, so thatA the Ainnen portions i2-i2 are substantially equidistantly spaced throughout their length from the outer yoke part I3, and the bend points I4i4 dene an opening i5 at one side of the frame for purposes that will later appear.

At one end of the frame the member i3 is provided with a socket i8 in the form of an inward bend for the reception of the foreiinger of the hand, and at the opposite end a similar socket II is provided for the reception of the thumb during manipulation of the device. It will be noted that a similar seat or socket I8 is provided at the closed side of the device opposite the opening I to accommodate the second or third finger of the hand if the same is deemed necessary to kproperly hold or guide the device during manip- Each roller is grooved, as indicated at 2|, to bet- 20 ter contact the nger or toe of the user. Each roller further embodies a metallic shaft or core 22 having reduced opposite ends 23 engaged in suitable apertures in the respective inside frame member I2 so that the roll is freely rotatable.

It is clear" from the foregoing description that the rolls I9 and 2'0 are readily removable and replaceable, if so desired. It is a simple expedientv to spring apart therespective inside frame member I2 so as to dislodge an end 23 of a, roll shaft and thus remove the roll, a new roll being set in place by a reversal of this process.

The particularframe structure provides a decided advantage in the use of the invention. The construction of the frame is such that it will inherently tend at all times to assume the position seen in Figure 2. That is, the frame is so constructed as to yieldingly resist any tendency to move the rolls I9 and-20 closer together or farther apart. Consequently, the device itself, without any outside aid, is capablel of exerting a yielding pressure? upon a nger undergoing treatment as illustrated in Figure i, and the rolls will yieldingly separate when passing over thicker portions of the finger and thereafter contract to assume a rm contact immediately upon reaching a thinner portion of the finger. In addition, the hand holding the device during massaging treatment may press upon the frame II and thus vary the pressure of the rolls at will,

due to the opening I5 in the side of the frame i I.

It will' be especially noted, however, that pressure on the frame element I3 by the hand manipulating the device does not affect the capability of the device to inherently adjust itself to compensate for variations in thickness or conformation of the finger being massaged. While pressure may be applied to the portion I3 of the frame and thereby, indirectly, to the parts I2-I2 of the frame, nevertheless the portions I2-I2 which carry the rollers I9 and 20 may expand and contract to vary the distance between the rollers in accordance with variations in thickness.

of the finger being worked upon. This expanding and contracting movement of the inner parts I2-I2 of the frame is permitted by the spaces between'the parts I2l2 and the outer part I3,

and this movement is relative to the outer part i3, which is held in the hand manipulating the device. Thus, there is a cooperation between the frame members so that while pressure of a suitable degree may be applied to the device during use, this pressure being applied directly tothe outer frame member I3, such application of pressure does not preclude the inner members I2-I2 from permitting a variation in distance between the rolls in keeping with the variation in thickness of the nger undergoing massage treatment, and

thus pressure on the finger is maintained substan- Y 5 tially constant over the entire finger.

It may be noted that when hand pressure is applied to the outer frame part I3 suiiiciently to compress the frame somewhat. the rollers may 5 nary massage of a iinger or toe, a`distinct advantage or use may be made of this feature. Certain fingers, such as a little linger, are most frequently thicker on the inner side than on the outer'side,l and other ngers may sometimes be thicker on one side than the other. The device may accordingly be positioned to provide more pressure onA the thicker side by holding it with the opening I5 4to that side, or more even pressure laterally over the iinger may be had by holding the device with the seat I8 adjacent the .thicker side of the nger, depending on the par- -ticular results desired. y

As explained above, in use the device is merely moved backward andk forward lengthwise of a iinger or toe. Thus the device will tend to stimulate circulation, increase suppleness, slenderize and taper the finger or toe,`so as to increase the beauty of the individual member and, generally, of the hand or foot.

It will be appreciated that while the device is in operation itv ts snugly in the hand manipulating the device, seats or sockets being provided in the shaping of the device to accommodate the finger or fingers and thumb of the hand holding it. It will further be noted that while the device itself is capable of exerting a yielding pressure upon the finger or toe undergoing treatment, the device is so constructed as to permit the pressure'of the massaging elements to be varied at will, without interference with the movement of the device over varying thicknesses of the nnger or toe. It will also be appreciated from the foregoing that the device, while simple in construction and economical to manufacture,

nevertheless is highly eilicient and easily operated.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and it is, therefore not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A linger or toe massaging device, including a frame formed of a ribbon of material bent into generally yoke shape with the end portions reversely and inwardly bent to partially overlap outer portions of the frame and shaped to journal a roller, a massaging roller carried by each of said reversely bent end portions separately from the outer part of theframe, said frame including said reverselyvbent end portions being bent so as to provide resiliency in the form of a yielding resistance to variation of the distance between s aid rollers, and said reversely bent end `portions being spaced from the'outer part of -:said frame except'forthepoint'of connection for each such portion.-

2. In a digit massaginghdevice, aresilient side closer than the ends of the rollers adjacent the connection side.

y 3. In a digit massaging device, a resilient frame shaped .to provide confronting yokeshaped end portions witha connection therebetween at one side only and the opposite side being open between the yoke portions, and a reversely bent portion spaced from and underlying each yoke portion and attached to `the respective yoke portion at the open side of the frame only, and a roller journaled in each of said reversely bent portions.

4. In a digit massaging device, a resilient frame including confronting yoke ends movable toward each other against the resiliency of the frame by manual pressure, a cantilever arrangement in each yoke portion and movable relatively to the respective yoke portion, and a roller iournaled in each said cantilever arrangement.

5. In a digit massaging device, a resilient frame including confronting yoke ends movable toward each other against the resiliency of the frame by manual pressure, a cantilever arrangement in each yoke portion attached at only one end to said yoke portion and movable both with and relatively to the yoke portion, and a roller journaled in each said cantilever arrangement independently of the respective yoke portion;

6. In a massaging device, a frame including confronting portions movable toward each other by manual pressure against the resiliency of the frame, a reversely bent end portion extending inside and spaced from each of said yoke portions, and a roller journaled in each said end portion independently of the respective yoke portion, said end portions being movable both with and relatively to thefrespective yoke portions to permit automatic compensation for variances in thickness of that which is massaged.

MARGUERITE M. MORRISON.

resilient 

